Railway-car.



ANo. 760,847.

PATENTED MAY 24, 1904.

J. H.l BRUCE. RAILWAY GAR. PPLI-OAVTIDN FILED SEPT. 14, 1903.

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RAILWAY GAR. APPLICATION- vFILID SEPI. 14H-.901;I

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Patented May 24, 1904.

Y' UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. BRUCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAlLwAY-GAR. l

s rnclricA'rIoN forming-ipsa 'afnemers-,Patent N0`.7eo,s47, dated May 24, 1904.?VA i' "-Appiicaaunla saptmteiitiaogs. serai No. 173,074. (Nomea.)

T tu whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. BRUCE, a citizen of the United States of America, land a resii dent of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ments in railway-cars, and particularly in refrigerator-cars, such asare designed vfor the transportation Yof perishable freight; and the object of the YinventionA is to provide a'car of j this generalcharacter ofvra'simple and ineX- pensive nature and of a strong and durable .construction which' shall be provided with refrlgerating means of an improved and simplified nature by the employment of which an ice and, further, by means of which an im- 'economy is effected in y the consumption of i ice-receptacles, as inthe case of refrigeratorcars as ordinarily constructed.

i The invention' consists in certain novel feal tures ofthe constructlon', cornblnation, and arrangement` of the' several parts of ,the im-j f i... l in .proved refrigerator-car whereby certain important advantages are attainedfand the `devices are made simpler, cheaper, and other-v wise better adapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will-be carefully defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings', which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure luis a side elevation showing a car'constructed according I to myinvention; and Fig. 2 isa rsectional plan View of the same, the planeof'the section at the'left-hand end of thefigurebeing located `just above the floor of the car, while at the right-hand end 'of the figure a portion of the ioor is broken away to show certain. parts of the car beneaththe same and which will Zbe hereinafter referred to. Fig. 3 is a partial View showing in vertical longitudinal sectionl one end portion of'a refrigerator-car embodying my lmprovements, and Fig. 4 1s a transverse vertical section takenthroughthe cenl tral part of thecar and showing certain features of construction to be hereinafter referred to. ls

In the views, l l indicate the car-trucks, vand 2 indicates the platform, which will be preferably constructed in such amanner as to -1 be adapted to receive upon -it a detachable certain `v-improve- -body portion 9, although I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself, tothis peculiar construction exclusively, since it will be evident that, ifdesired, the car-body may be xedly heldupon the platform. Where the body is detachably held upon the platform, however, it is evident that the improved car isgiven a much wider range of use, since the removal of the body permits of using the car as aplatformor gondola car, and when-desired lone styleofbody may be replaced by another style, so as to permit of readily converting the car from. a refrigerator to a cattle car or other variety of inclosed or box car.

rThe car-platform 2, as herein shown, is provided with a metal strip or band 3, extended around it,`longitudinal sills 4 4 being extended along the opposite side portions of said band or strip and transverse beams 6 6 being extendedinside said strip 3 along the ends of the platform` while a central sill 4 is extended lengthwise of the platform midway between the side sills 4 4. rIhe-sills 4 4 and beams 6 6 are cut out, asshown at 7 7, at suitable pointsvto receive downwardly-extended parts of the car-body 9,which downwardly-extended parts by their engagement in said openings 7 7 serve for'rholding the car-body detachably in position uponthe platform. Over the platform constructed as above describedis extended. a floor 5, covering certain portions of the platform only', aswill be hereinafter explained. -v :l

To the platform l2 are connected two metallic tanks IO and 11, which areextended lengthwiseV in the'spaces at opposite'sirlesofthe central sill 4a and between the same.1 and the side sills 44` and one of the said tanks, asseen at 10, is formed with a closed top, over which the fioor 5 of the platform is extended, the said tank l0 being designed to vcontain liquid freight in additionto such freight as may be stored in the ordinary way within the body 9 roo of the ear. The tanks 10 and 11 are separated by a space extended longitudinally beneath the central part of the car-platform, which space is adapted to receive the various air-brake and other appliances, (notshowin) which are ordinarily present beneath the platform. The other tank, 11, is formed with a removable top or cover, to receive which the floor 5 of the car-platform 2 is cut out, as

seen in Figs. 2 and 4, the said removable cover of the tank 11 being made flush with said floor 5.

Each of the tanks 10 and 11 is formed at opposite ends with shallow portions l2 12, extended above the car-trucks and having bottoms which are inclined slightly downward toward the central part of each tank, the said central portion of each tank 10 and 11 being made with an enlarged and downwardly-extended portion 18, depending in the space between the car-trucks, as shown in Fig. 1. Near the ends of each tank are arranged vents 14, provided with cocks and adapted for the discharge of contents therefrom, and at one end of the central enlarged part of each tank is arranged a similar valved vent or outlet 15, designed for a similar purpose.

The open-topped tank 11 is designed to receive a charge of ice, by means of which the freight contained within the car-body 9 may be sufleiently cooled -to prevent deterioration in transit, the ice being packed in cake form within the said tank. For the charging of the tank 11 with ice the cover thereof will require to be removed, and to facilitate the removal thereof I preferably make said cover in a series of sections 17 17 end to end and supported upon ledges extended along the .sides and ends of the tank and upon crossbraces 16, extended transversely across the tank at suitable intervals and adapted to support the adjacent ends of the sections 17 of the cover.

The cover-sections 17 17 are provided with openings or perforations 18 for the circulation of air from the body 9 of the car, so that the air within the car-body will be properly chilled to preserve the perishable freight contained within it, and for asimilar purpose I provide pipes or ues 19, extended within the hollow Walls of the car-body at suitable intervals, the lower ends of said pipes or tlues 19 being in communication when the body is in place on the ear-platform with'short pipes or flues carried in the platform and communicating with the interior of the tank 11 beneath the fioor 5 of the car-platform, While the upper ends of the pipes or lines are carried to a suitable elevation above the floor 5 and are passed, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, through the interior wall or lining of the car-body 9, so as to be adapted for communication with the interior thereof. Any

required number of the pipes or iiues 19 may be employed, and although in Fig. 2 I have only indicated the positions of two such pipes or iues it will usually be desirable to employ a greater number. The pipes or fiues serve to promote circulation within the ear, so that the air therein is more effectively chilled.

The ice-tank 11 will preferably be formed with double walls, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, and the upper part of the inner wall will be arranged slightly below the upper edge of the outer wall, which latter is fiush with the car-floor, so that such upper part of the inner wall forms the ledge upon which the edges of the cover-sections of the ice-tank are rested, and the slope or inclination of the ends thereof will serve to drain from the end portions 12 12 any water resulting from the melting of the ice, which water will flow down the inclined bottom of each end portion 12 and will pass into the central deeper portion 13, whence it may be drawn off at the vent or outlet l5. Should water collect within the end portions 12, it may be drawn off in a similar way at the vents or outlets 14 14. To protect the walls of the ice-tank 11 against damage from the falling of ice upon the bottom thereof, a protective grating or ice-rack 13, of wood or the like, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, may be extended upon the bottom thereof. The icetank 11 will also be preferably provided with a door in the outer side of its enlarged central portion 13, as shown at 20 in Fig. 1, through which door cakes of ice may be inserted to replenish the supply within the tank when the same becomes exhausted on long runs. By this means it is notrcquired to open the car to replenish the ice-supply, and consequent damage to the perishable contents is avoided.

In the use of the improved car constructed according to my invention the tank 11 will be packed with ice either prior to the loading' of the car 'or during such loading, the coversections 17 being applied over the icc as the tank is filled, and after the doors of the car are closed the circulation of the contained air through the pipes or liues 19 19 and perforations 18 18 will serve to chill the air by bringing it in contact with the ice within the icetank, so as to preserve the contents of the carbody 9 during transit.

The arrangement of the ice-tank 11 beneath the floor of the car permits said tank to be filled with much less labor and in less time than is required when the ice must lirst be lifted above the roof of the car for insertion in ice-receptacles extended down from the roof in the ordinary way, and, moreover, the improved arrangement of the ice-tank below the car-fioor does not in any way encroach upon the space of `the car-body available for the storage of freight, so that the capacity of the car is greatly increased over refrigeratorcars as ordinarily constructed. It will also be seen that since the car-body is removable from the platform it may be readily replaced IOO IlO

with another style of body, so as to adapt it for other uses when not required for use as a refrigerator-car, and since refrigerator-cars are generally run upon the return trip empty the employment of the tanks l and 11 belowl the car-platform serves to render the car capable of carrying upon such return trips loads of oil or other liquid freight without danger of damaging the body 9 o r rendering the same unfit for refrigerating purposes.

From the above description it will be seen that the improved railway-car constructed according to my invention is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature and is especially well adapted for usefor refrigerating and other purposes, and it will also be obvious from the above description that the improved car is capable of considerable modification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason Ido not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form andarrangement of the several parts of the device as herein set forth in carrying out my invention in practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure4 by Letters Patl. Arailway-car comprising a platform, a car-body arranged above the platform and removably held thereon, an open-topped ice- 1 tank extended in the platform beneath the carbody and adapted to receive a charge of ice, a removable perforated cover extended over the open top ofthe ice-tank, and means for promotingl a circulation of air from the `upper part of the car-body to the ice-tank and comprising iiues extended in the walls of said carbody with upper ends adaptedfor communication with the interior of the car-body at the upper part ofthe wallsl and other flues ex tended in the platform in communication with the interior of the ice-tank and also adapted for communication with the lower ends of the iiues in the side walls of the car-bodywhen said car-body is arranged upon the platform. 2. AA railway-car comprising a platform, a

car-'body above the platform, an open-topped ice-tank extended lengthwise in the platform, trucks at the ends of the platform whereon the car is supported, said tank having shallow portions extended over the trucks and having a deeper central portion extended down in the space between the trucks, and a cover formed of sections each of which is perforated, the several sections of said cover being each supported removably over the open top of the ice-tank, and said cover-sections being adapted, when removed, to afford access to the ice-tank throughout the entire length of the same.

3. A railway-car comprising a platform, a

Signed at Chicago, Illinois', this 13th day of y August, 1903. l

JOSEPH H. BRUCE.

Witnesses: A

J'. D. CAPLINGER, H. J. BAYARD. 

